'Suddenly, an entire city is being re-born, its economy revitalized and its sense of hope renewed'

Susan Savage, the Democratic challenger to Sen. Hugh Farley, R-Niskayuna, has unveiled her first campaign ad.

Produced by Jimmy Segal and set to nice music, the ad starts in black and white and then shifts to color, touting the revitalization efforts in the city that Susan Savage, as chair of the County Legislature, prompted when she “began doing the impossible” by cutting property taxes. On Monday, she proposed a budget that would do so for the fourth time in six years.

It’s unclear whether Schenectadians share Savage’s feeling that she was instrumental to the changes. But the ad features lots of smiling white people.

I’m thinking of embedded themes, as I’ve taken from some other ads. Perhaps, “Susan Savage can make your community like Schenectady” or “Susan Savage will take New York the same direction as Schenectady.” But when I type them, I can see why the campaign didn’t voice them in the ad.

But it does close with this promise: “Now, Susan Savage is running for Senate, because if she could change a county, she can help change a state.”

(Full disclosure: I grew up in Clifton Park and now live in Troy.)

Travis Proulx, a spokesman for Savage, said the ad will air on cable and broadcast television as part of an “extensive” buy. He had this happy quote about the ad:

“Under Susan’s leadership, Schenectady County has become recognized as a model for economic development and fiscal responsibility. She has cut property taxes 4 of the last 6 years, and has attracted more than 3,500 new private sector jobs to the county. This ad shares Susan’s extraordinary record of delivering for local taxpayers, with all voters throughout Montgomery, Fulton, Saratoga and Schenectady Counties.”